Walt Jocketty signed all of the young players to contracts, avoiding the arbitration process. Edinson Volqueze, who finished the season strong signed today. He was the last arbitration eligible player.
The irony is when the players association first started, the owners insisted on arbitration. That stance has cost owners millions upon millions. The team submits a figure and the player submits one. The arbitrator picks one or the other, considering what other players with similar statistics are paid. Even when a player loses he gets a huge raise. Joey Votto signed before Albert Pujols did which could have added millions to Votto's asking price.
The process forces teams to find negative things to say about its players to save money. It is a no win situation for the team and general manager. Jocketty signed Bill Bray, Votto, Volquez, Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto all of whom were eligible. By paying a little more than market value up front, Jocketty saved payroll in the long run and keeps the Reds core of young players in the organization to build around for the long run.
The Bengals asked Hamilton County for 43.2 million dollars over the next 10 years for maintenance and improvements. One of the items asked for is a new scoreboard.
The Bengals offense has barely taxed the current scoreboard. To that end the Bengals fired offensive coordinator, Bob Bratkowski. Bratkowski became the fall guy for an under performing offense. Coaches get too much blame when bad things happen and too much credit when good things happen. The Bengals offense was challenged by Carson Palmer, who I believe hasn't been 100 percent physically for two years. Chad Ochocinco and Terrel Owens did more harm than good. Both were inconsistent, ran poor routes, dropped key passes and never threw a block. The running game suffered because of it.
A lot of fans blamed Bratkowski for an uninspired offense but poor execution on the part of key players made the offense look anemic.
As for a new state-of-the-art scoreboard, do we really need to see ugly football in HD.
Cincinnati Sports News and Commentary
About Me
- Gary Schatz
- I am a freelance writer. I've covered the Cincinnati Reds, Bengals and others since 1992. I have a background in sales as well. I've sold consumer electronics, advertising and consumer package goods for companies ranging from the now defunct Circuit City to Procter&Gamble. I have worked as a stats operator for Xavier University, the University of Cincinnati, the College of Mount St. Joe and Colerain High School.
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